Decrypted. Agronomist and economist Mbaye Sylla Khouma (Mbaye Sylla Khouma) agreed to explain another detonating factor in Senegal: the country’s economic structure.
CSenegal is like a pot with a lid that suddenly fell off. It was deeply impressed by the sudden and violent demonstrations. After the legal-political allegations, the sudden and violent demonstrations shocked the background. The allegations were rape and against MP Ousmane Sonko. Repeated death threats. In the last presidential election held in February 2019, the leader of the BASF-Patriot Party has become the third leader. As many politicians expressed objections to the opposition leader Senegal’s ruling coalition, they have become the party’s leader. leader. It can be said that everything related to him needs special attention in a country that is threatened by the lofty desire to “reduce opposition to the simplest expression.” However, this does not prove that the demonstrators in Dakar and some regional towns showed anger, such as attacking Auchan, the food store of the Total gas station, burning down cars, destroying city equipment and exacerbating the atmosphere of insecurity and fear across the country. , This is reasonable. . If the spark is political, then in an environment where the combination of confinement and curfews has a huge impact on the population’s main income from the informal sector, the fuse must be economic.
Worked in many African countries in large international groups or organizations (Nestlé, Coca-Cola, Bharti Airtel, Usaid, Rollback Malaria) or countries (Senegal Investment Promotion Agency, APIX) for nearly thirty years, Mbaye Sila Kumar (Mbaye Sylla Khouma) agreed to interpret the economic grid of the social and political fires that Senegal has experienced. Tropical Agronomy Engineer (Agropolis Montpellier), graduated from Business Administration in Cesag, Dakar. He is currently the managing partner of the African Crossroads, a community of thought exchanges and actors in Africa. Aims to implement solutions for tomorrow’s Africa. Avant-garde to promote its development.
Africa point: Can we say that if the “exceptional” management of private affairs involving politicians is set ablaze, the fire under the ashes is political and above all economic?
Mbaye Sylla Khouma: Since the first wave of Covid-19 attacks, the fire has been smoldering. The pandemic has had a negative impact on the country’s Senegalese economy, which is an export-oriented economy because most of the local products are exported in order to be able to import manufactured goods and are dependent on external sources.
It should be pointed out that for the first time in human history, the real economy was shut down to protect human health. This unprecedented situation has severely hit global growth. Countries such as Senegal have already paid for this. In fact, the political and private affairs involving MP Sonko are nothing more than the alibi of young people, who are troubled by local unemployment and no longer support curfew-related restrictions, and are resolved by their right, wrong, or wrong regime. Their problems have left them on the verge of economic performance announced during Macky Sall’s eight-year presidency. He himself made a speech in the app Jing after the quasi-insurgency situation, acknowledging that buildings, regional express trains (TER) and other infrastructure are of course important, but the employment of young people is a top priority. Is this his notice of failure? submit questions.
The measures taken by Covid-19 have had major economic consequences. Which ones have you determined?
The real economy is an entity related to the exchange of goods and services between businesses and households, and has ceased due to sanitary isolation and/or curfews. These have had a catastrophic impact on Senegal’s economy, which is mainly based on the informal sector. When the “African” market where most of the exchange of goods occurs and transportation are closed, one can imagine that this has an impact on people’s lives. The income of these people is mainly from daily activities, and the income is mainly from activities.
We must also talk about the massive reduction in remittances from immigrants, almost halved, which has also been severely affected by European containment measures and the economic shutdown. These domestic helpers are the basic source of monthly income for many families in Senegal. Before the pandemic, the amount of these transfer payments was estimated at 2 billion euros (1.2 trillion CFA francs) per year, and their contribution to the economy was greater than the contribution of agriculture to the GDP.
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Such daily life becomes very difficult. With his mother as the center, he specializes in fast food work on the suburban streets, his night economic income pays for the next day’s family expenses, and a taxi or bus driver, who takes over the job from the nominal driver. Return the vehicle to the holder in the morning in the evening. These two types of workers earn a living from only the money collected at night or night. However, due to the curfew, their income dropped to zero. These are just two examples, but there are more examples. Because they have thousands of people, even thousands of people rely on nightlife to live, so that they lost their income because of a law.
World Bank economists believe that if a strong stimulus plan is not adopted to restart Africa, Africa may lose a decade of economic growth efforts, results and gains. However, for this, it is necessary to find money, even a lot of money.
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